Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1887-02-15
SUICIDE OR SLAIN!
That is the Question for a Jury to
Decide.

| The Trial of James Betger for the
Murder of His Wife-Yesterday Ar
ternoon and This Mornings Testi
mOny.
The court room yesterday afternoon
was literally packed, seats, aisles and all
available standing room being occu-
pied. In consequence the odor was not
as of "sweet perfume from Araby the
best" but was so sitting as to require
the doors and windo IS 10 be opened.
The audience seemed TO be in jolly
mood and when anything occurred in the
testimony or in the conduct of counsel
that could by any stretch of Imagination
be considered funny they gave vent to
their feelings by loud laughing, this be
the arrest OF any enc so INDUCING, and
the merriment ceased. Nothing occurred
to enlven the monotony Of the dull legal
proceedings except tilt between Mr.
OMara and MAJOR Beardsley, wherein,
when the latter was making an objection
to the testimony of Mrs. Huss as to the
relations of the defendant to her daugh>
ter, and, inspired perhaps by the large
audience. was enforcing his argument
10 a rather sensational manner, Mr..
OMara retorted that the maj or was maxi
ing theatre out of the court room, and
was playing high tragedy for the benefit
of the benches Again, when Mrs, Huss
was testifying about the cruelty of Bptger
in having Adeia jump from high wall
when pregnant, as the prosecution claim,
in the hope of killing her and Kidding
himself of her, but as he claims to rid
her Of the child, Major Beardsley char
acterzed the whole proceedings as a
farce" and "travesty upon justice. p"
gusge he used and said it was refec-
ton upon the court, and he could not
allow it; that such language should lot
be used in court of Justice
After going press yesterday afternoon
the witness Ole Olsen, one of the foot
passengers on the bridge at the time of
the occurrence, was recalled by the pros,
ecution to show that the guard WAS sitting
with his face toward the wagon road and
not looking down the length of the bridge
toward Davenport. Upon cross exsmin>
alton counsel for the defendant endeav>
ored toprove that the guard was so stu
ated that he could see Olsen as he came
along, but the witness said the guard did
not see him until he got almost up 10
him, and in order to do SO, had to turn
slightly around. The position of the
c defense in this matter is that the guard
! saw the whole occurrence and saw that the
defendant did not throw his wife over
The next witness was Mrs Anna Huss
the
MOTHER OF THE DECEASED.
She is a large woman, and her features
bear great resemblance to those of the
picture OF her daughter She was dressed
plainly but neatly. and her sppearan CT
upon the stand was very satisfactory
Z impressing every one with her honesty
! | and entire truthfulness. She testified al
follows: | live in the country. in Iowa
on a farm. am married woman, bu
my husband is dead I Am the mother o
Adelia Betger If she had lived on,
month longer she would have beef
twenty years old. have known Jane
Bptger ever since he went with Adelia
They were married on the 2Sth of Jan
uary, 1884 She was ia the family wa
. when he married her. and / made hin
marry her, threatened to have hin
arrested if ne didn't marry her Tn
baby was born on the 81 of July. Hi
- treatment to AdeEa was very bad. H
scolded her and wrote TO a girl in the OLE
country he used 20 90 with, When sh
was sick and her baby was born he
breast was pretty full, and she wanted
breast pump, but he would not get it q
first, but when he got it he used it S
hard that she cried out; he said "
couldn't bur. her so much, the bloc
wasn't running out" One day when
was there they wanted TO take the stra,
\ ticks down stairs TO put the straw aroun
! potatoes to keep them from freezing. an
to fill the ticks with new husks. Adei
4 had hold of two corners of the tick an
a he had hold oftwo. and in taking it dow
ie he tore the tick, and she scolded him
ie and he got very mad and they were fus
r. sing and fighting about it, and he
y RUN AFTER THE RATCHET
and was going to strike her with it, an
| snatched the Ratchet and hid it. | the
said she had better go for the police an
arrest him; he said we need not wait o
that, be would go and get one. So
S. packed up his things in the trunk aud b
u wanted his album he had given her whe
c he was going with her, but she wouldn